UPDATED: Storm leaves thousands without power; water outages also reported

More 7,000 Highland County residents were without power Friday evening after winds estimated between 60-70 mph rolled through the county with a severe thunderstorm.

On Saturday, numerous Highland County Water Company customers began reporting water outages and low water pressure.

Customers in Allensburg and Fairfax told The HCP their water was either out or functioning with minimal pressure.

Around 9:30 p.m. Friday, three power companies were reporting that 7,152 people were without electricity. South Central Power reported the most outages at 5,452, following by Dayton Power and Light with 1,095, and AEP with 610.

Emergency crews are currently responding to several incidents related to the high winds and thunderstorms, but according to Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward, there were no serious injuries reported.

"We had several reports of trees down through the county, villages and Hillsboro," Ward said. "There were reports of damage to siding off of structures and barns, and the siding and part of the roof was taken off of a trailer in the county."

While law enforcement and local fire and EMS departments were responding to incident throughout the evening, Ward said that there were no serious incidents.

The Ohio Department of Transportation reported that numerous routes in the District 9 area are closed or restricted due to high water, downed trees, power lines and/or debris following this evening's wave of severe thunderstorms.

State routes 41, 73, 138, 247 and 785, as well as U.S. 62 and 50, in Highland County are partially closed or blocked, and nearly all state routes in Jackson and Scioto counties are either closed or restricted to one lane.

While ODOT crews are working to clear routes, motorists are reminded of the need to exercise additional caution tonight.

"There were no injuries, nothing long-lasting," Ward said. "We were fairly lucky. The county sustained, it is my understanding from the National Weather Service, there were gusts of 60-70 mph. There are a lot of tree limbs down, trees across a couple of roadways, but the Hillsboro Street Department, Highland County Engineer's Office, and ODOT are working on getting the streets and roadways cleared. Overall, I think we were very fortunate."

The special meeting of Liberty Township trustees to consider fire and EMS services will continue as scheduled at 7 p.m. despite the Liberty Township building on Moore Road being without power.

Sergeant Steve Browder of the Hillsboro Police Department estimated there were at least a dozen incidents reporting storm damage in the city after high winds and thunderstorms moved through Highland County Friday evening.

Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings said he was walking in the area of Beech Street when a large limb fell onto a parked vehicle.

Vernon Angles, whose wife Jane Angles owns Janie's Closet, said he was at the store when the incident occurred.

"I heard the crack of the tree limb and then I heard it smash, and I knew exactly what had happened," Angles said.

No injuries were repotted after a woman was driving near the 400 block of North West Street when a tree fell onto her moving vehicle.

The Highland County Sheriff's Office reported there were multiple ongoing incidents throughout the city related to the storm.

There were trees down blocking roadways throughout the Hillsboro area. The Hillsboro Street Department and Hillsboro Police Department were moving through the area and addressing issues.

 Stephen Forsha and Caitlin Ryan of The Highland County Press contributed to this story.